When the media tweeted ‘US electric car market race heats up’, our thoughts jumped to a green Indianapolis 500. But this was not to be, at least for now. The race is on at Wall Street with Japan’s SoftBank putting $2.25bn into GM’s autonomous Cruise. This is one of the biggest single investments in self-driving technology according to BBC News Desk. However, this is not all.
More to Come From US Electric Car Market Race
Not to be outdone, Google announced it is purchasing 62,000 Fiat Chrysler minivans for its Waymo autonomous fleet. GM shares jumped over 10%, best ever since relisting following its 2009 bankruptcy. Is automotive embracing electric cars finally?
That could be the case. Softbank is taking a 19% stake in GM’s autonomous Cruise. This confirms GM is ahead of the pack to roll out autonomous automobiles per RBC Capital Markets. ‘These should start inroading commercial ride-sharing fleets in 2019,’ GM chief executive Mary Barra expects. We have come a long way from automotive manufacturers laughing on our parade.
The Race Is To the Wealthy, Not the Swift, It Seems
What does this mean to the ‘old timers’ who started the US electric car market challenge when green was just he color of trees in spring?
We expect the mainline automotive industry will roll them over as it did many other pioneers before. Like it or not, this is in the nature of commerce, where big money always chases wealth.
Perhaps we need to start a memorial park to the green heroes of the past we commemorate under our Climate Change Tab. Their voices from the past whisper to us, “That’s unnecessary, we did not do it for the money. We did it for sake of the planet our great-great-grandchildren will inhabit.
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Preview Image: La Jamais Contente
